You look at Dale Thayer’s mustache and swear the Padres reliever stepped out of another era. With the bushy, blond whiskers extending beyond the upper lip and some cascading past his lower lip, he looks like a Confederate soldier.

Should Thayer pose for a portrait, famed Civil War photographer Mathew Brady should do the shooting.

Thayer’s ’stache is a matter of pride, a part of his visage for some time. But this year the mustache looks like it’s been fed fertilizer. Normally, he trims it every two months. Not in 2012. Trimmer or razor hasn’t touched the mustache since spring training.

“I’m just doing it for the fun of it, to change things up,” he said. “I’m not going for any sort of look or an era.”

Thayer says his wife of nearly five years, Lisa, approves.

“She’s fine with it,” he said. “I don’t know if she likes hearing what people are saying about it.”

Before eating, Thayer brushes the bristles to the side, lest a bowl of linguine or lamb chop gets lost in the thicket. Shakes, when not eaten through a straw, cause the biggest mess.

“I’m wiping my face a lot,” he said.

Might the mustache not be trimmed the entire season?

“It’s been going this long,” he said. “I might as well kind of let it go.”

Aztecs history lesson

Before August’s first practice, San Diego State football coach Rocky Long issued a quiz to his players.

“I asked the kids if they knew who Carl Weathers is or how Carl Weathers became famous after he stopped playing football,” said Long.

Weathers is an SDSU alum, playing linebacker under Don Coryell in 1968 and ’69 before a brief NFL and CFL career. Now 64, Weathers earned a bit more fame on the big screen, playing opposite Sylvester Stallone in the first four “Rocky” films.

“They had no idea he was Apollo Creed, none whatsoever,” said Long, a defensive-minded coach. “Except one kid knew who Apollo Creed was. He was on offense. The offense is always smarter than the defense, anyway.”

Deep thoughts

If Anthony Rizzo looked any more relaxed at the plate he’d be hitting from a hammock … There’s one NBC Olympics announcer This Just In cannot stand. Al Trautwig, you are fingernails on the chalkboard. Farrrrrrr, too melodramatic. … NBC’s treating the field events as if they didn’t exist. And it’s underutilizing Dwight Stones …

Write in Yonder Alonso’s name at first base for the next five years … An example of why rookie Padres radio announcer Bob Scanlan is so good: when Carlos Quentin barreled into Mets catcher Josh Thole on Friday, jarring the ball loose, Scanlan said that Thole’s ability to hold onto the ball may have been impacted by wearing an oversized catcher’s glove to handle knuckleballer R.A. Dickey.

Pipe in the music

Men are being discriminated against in London. The women’s gymnastics all-around is accompanied by music; the men’s is not. In figure skating, men and women skate to music. Why not in gymnastics? A colleague said it may be because the men must frequently pause for long tumbling runs. No excuse.